Veep inaugurates new Western Regional House of Chiefs

• Posted on September 17, 2020September 17, 2020
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Tuesday inaugurated the new Western Regional House of Chiefs in Takoradi.

It followed the reconstitution of the regional body following the creation of the new Western North Region. The former Western Regional House of Chiefs has been dissolved after holding its final meeting on September 15.

Traditional authorities, whose jurisdictions fall within the newly created region, will be under the Western North Regional House of Chiefs, which will be inaugurated by President Akufo-Addo later in the month.

Inaugurating the new Western Regional House of Chiefs, Dr. Bawumia reiterated the relevance and contribution of chieftaincy to the development of the country, saying “Nananom, the chieftaincy institution, like various other institutions of state, has lived through controversial periods of our history, playing different roles at different times.”

“I do not hesitate to state that chieftaincy has and will be an indispensable part of our history and development. It is so widely respected that even when our fellow Ghanaians leave our shores and are free of the influence of chieftaincy, they create chiefs wherever they are,” Dr. Bawumia pointed out.

The Vice-President said the President’s belief in the chieftaincy institution as an integral part of the nation’s democratic and development process was key.

“Government recognizes that in order to ensure the success of the programme of social and economic transformation that was put before the Ghanaian people, we have to do a lot. It is important that we bring the traditional role of our chiefs into the modern constitutional set-up, under which we govern our country,” Dr. Bawumia said.

“As a start, we made a pledge in the NPP’s 2016 Manifesto to increase the monthly allowances paid to chiefs and the quarterly budgetary support to the traditional councils and houses of chiefs. This, we have done by 100%,” he disclosed, adding, “Government has also assisted the National House of Chiefs with GH¢3.5 million for the completion of its new headquarters office complex in Kumasi.”

He said, “Government is also committed to assisting the National House of Chiefs to move speedily to finish work on the codification of the traditional norms and rules that have guided our communities throughout the ages.”

“The ministry, in collaboration with the National House of Chiefs, has also begun the process of digitizing records of the National House of Chiefs, particularly records in the national register of chiefs,” he added.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi